Revolving door



May 6, A1941.' l E. PEREMI Erm.

REVOLVING DOOR I Filed June 4, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet l Will/lill;

W5 xNvEN-roRs,

Edmund. Pere,

aw v ATTORNEYS May 6, 1941. E. PEREMI Erm..

REVOLVING DOOR Filed June 4, 1958 s sheets-Sheet 2 BY Wm v 770622:

ATTORNEYS May 6, 19417 E, PEREMI. ETAL 2,240,942

REvoLvING DOOR Filed June 4, 1938 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS PatentedMay 6, l1941 REvoLvING Doon Y Edmund Pererni, Manhasset, and yCharlesKish, Elmhurst, N'. Y., assignors to General Bronze-OorporatiomLongvIsland City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Appia-semam 4, 193s, serial No. 211,716..

(o1. vte- 13)Y -`is claims.

This invention relates to revolvinggdoorsy in which a plurality ofvleaves are mounted4 to project radially from a central rotary columrrorsupport.l In the normal operation of the door, the leaves are Xed withrelation to thecentral column and rotate with'it; but they are adaptedto fold in response to abnormal pressure occurring under panicconditions, so as to make an open passage through the doorway. Theleaves may also be folded and moved to one side withY the centralcolumn, when it is desired to clear the doorway for any purpose.

For holding the door leaves firmly in their radial positions whilepermitting them to fold or collapsey under abnormal pressure, springdetent means are used, and it is an object ofthe invention,` to improvethe construction of such spring detent means. More specifically, itv isan objectl to provide spring `detent Vmeans which will assist in holdingthe leaves so that their inner edges will nt closely against the column,instead of tending to push the leaves away from the column, as in the`constructions at present in'use.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means for unlockingtheleaves by forcibly retracting the detent Vbolts against the tensionof the bolt-holding springs when the door leaves are to Vbe foldedmanually. s

Further objects of the invention are to pro- Vide, improvements in thepivotal mounting of the leaves; to provide an improved construction ofcasing of the column; and to improve other details of the construction,as will vhereinafter more fully appear. Y

` In the drawings forming a part of this speciiication:

Figure lis a view in front elevation of a door mounted in a housingshown in vertical section;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the door column and its casingand part of one of the door leaves;

Figure 311s a View, partly in elevation, and partly in verticalsection,`showing part of the door column and the upper disc and hanger,and portions of the leaves;

Figure 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of Figure 6 showinglthe lowerpart of one of the leaves;

Figure 5 is a horizontal section similar to Figure `2 showing a modiedform of column enclosing casing;

`Figure 6 isa View, partly in elevation and partly inverticalsection,.similar to Figure 3, but showing Lthe disc and hangersat the bottom of the door. i c l y.

Figurel is a-view in horizontal section taken on line 'l-l of Figure 3,thefolded position ofthe leaves being shown in dottedlines.

Figure is a horizontal sectional View looking upwardly,-taken online 8-8'of Figure. Y

Figure-9 is ahorizontal section taken on line 9 4!v fof` Figure @showingthe door leaves folded. Referring to the drawings in detail, the doorcomprises-a series of leaves or wings l2 mounted upon a centralfrotarycolumn or support I3, to turn-within a doorway or casing I4 of usualconstruction. Asis customary, the supporting column |3 may have apivotal bearing (not shown) in thetfloor of the doorway and its upperend `may be suspended bya trolley and track (not shown) aloovetheceiling of the doorway. When the door is to be moved to one side of thedoorway, thepivotal bearing at the bottom is disconnected, the leavesare folded and the leaves and column moved-to one side by forcing thetrolley along thrtrack, `all in a well understood manner, not necessaryto illustrate or further describe.

The central supporting column comprises a strong and rigid shaft whichmay conveniently consist cfa' steel tube I. Mounted on this tube, nearthe top and bottom, are means for supporting the Vdoor vleaves or wings,such means being shown as-comprising an upper disc El' and a lowerA discI8` which are preferably similar in construction, one facing upwardlyand the other downwardly. The exposed portion ofthe central columnbetween the'discs is preferably provided withatubular sheathgor casingwhich is recessed-Y or otherwise-'formed so as to provide a tightconnection between the column and the inner edges of the door leaves,while at the same timenot interfering with the folding of the leaves.Preferably thisV sheath or casing is made of a non-corrosivemetal. Oneform'of this casing is illustrated in Figure 2 and comprises twosimilarinterlocked shapes which may desirably be formedof extrudedbronze or aluminum, or other non-corrosive i metal which can beextruded. In the construction shown, the casing comprisesfour projectingribs 2@ between which arecurved` recesses 2I adapted to receive theinner edgesof the wings l2 which are curved as shown at 22. Each of thesimilar halves of the casing comprise a complete rib portion 20 and apartialrib 23 having a dovetailed groove 24 extending longitudinallythereof inside of said partial rib. Each of-the casing sectionsl alsohas a'longitudinally extending inner rib portion 25 havingdiverginganges 26 thereon which constitute a dove-tail adapted tointerlock with the groove 24 when the two portions of the casing aretelescoped longitudinally before the door is erected. With thisconstruction it is seen that a symmetrical and finished casing isprovided by the use of two identical extruded sections.

In instances where it is desired to use a casing for the central columnmade out of sheet metal or metal which cannot be extruded, such forinstance as stainless steel, the construction shown in Figure may beused. In this construction the casing is made out of a plurality of Ysimilar rolled shapes, four being shown. Each of these shapes comprisesa hollow rib portion 3|] having two flanges 3| and 32 arranged at rightangles and adapted to fit adjacent to the shaft I6. Preferably all ofthe sheet metal sections are identical, the flange 3| at one sideunderlying the flange 32 of the adjacent rib section, and the flange 32at the opposite side of the rst rib section overlying the flange 3| ofthe adjacent rib section on that side. The flanges may be securedtogether by welding or byvscrews or other holding devices (notshown).

The leaves may be pivotally mounted on the discs or supporting members|1 and |8 in any suitable manner. In the preferred constructionillustrated we have shown an arrangement similar to that disclosed inour United States Patent No. 1,983,395, dated December 4, 1934, thepresent invention, however, embodying certain improvements in detailover the pivotal supporting means shown in said patent. The discs |1 andI8 are similar, except reversed in position on the shaft. The discs aresecured to the shaft in any suitable manner, as by means of the screws40. Each disc is provided in one face with an annular outer groove 42and a four lobed or clover leaf groove 43. The door leaves are eachprovided with upper and lower hangers 44, each hanger carrying an outerpin 45 provided with an arcuate shoe or block 4G pivotally mountedthereon and arranged to slide in the annular groove 42. Each hanger isalsoV provided with an inner pin 48 carrying an anti-friction roller 49arranged to travel '1n the lobed groove 43. The lobed groove 43 isprovided with four equally spaced sockets or recesses 58 adapted toreceive the rollers 49 When the leaves are in radial position. Theroller 49 travels outwardly from the socket through one or the other ofthe branching walls of the groove leading from the socket when a leafisfully swung to the right or left, respectively. Where the grooveportions forming the sides of a lobe come together at the apex of thelobe they may merge completely into a single `apex as shown in our priorpatent referred to, but preferably the groove portions do not completelymerge at the apex, but each groove portion terminates in a shallow seat55, these two seats being separated by an inwardly projecting cusp 55.When a leaf is completely folded its roller 49 moves into one of theseseats 55, lthe other seat 55 serving to receive the roller on theadjacent door leaf in the event that the leavesare folded in theoppositedirection. Each of the discs s provided with guide pins 68, eachcarrying an antifriction roller 6|, and each leaf hanger -is providedwith a hear-t shaped cam 62 adapted to maintain contact with a roller 6|while the leaves are in radial position and during the first part of thefolding movement of the leaf. The leaf hangers are also provided withtransverse surfaces 65 adapted to contact the rollers 6| when the leavesare in radial position. When a leaf is folded from the radial positionshown at Figure 8, the shoe 46 leaf is one of the outer leaves and movesto the fully folded position, as shown by theouter leaves in Figure 9,the shoe 45 has moved further around the annular groove, the cam 52 hasmoved entirely out of contact with the roller 6|' and the roller 49 onthe pin 48 has moved out through one of the branches of one of the lobesand into the socket 55 at the end of such branch. All of the leaves arecapable of similar movements depending upon the position of the doorwhen collapsed, and when the leaves are folded they are preferablyparallel or substantially parallel,

as shown in Figure 9. The operation of the parts so far described isvery similar to that disclosed in our former patent.

In order to permit the leaves to fold to the position of the outerleaves shown in Figure 9, the recesses |10 in the hangers which receivethe discs |1 and I8 are made suiciently deep so that the ends of therecesses will not contact the edges of the ldiscs until the foldingmovement has taken place. In order to close the outer portions of theserecesses When the leaves are in radial position so as to prevent thepassage of drafts, exible wind stops |1|, preferably formed of rubber orthe like are mounted on the end walls of the recesses |10 by means ofclamping blocks |12 or in any suitable manner.

For holding the door leaves in radial position during normal use, Whileat the same time permitting them to yield under excessive pressure,spring pressed bolts are used, each leaf being preferably provided withbolts near its upper and lower edges adapted to engage recesses in lugsformed on the upper and lower ydiscs respectively. The bolts are mountedin recesses in the hangers near the central column of the door andadjacent to the discs. The bolts are all similar yand are designated bythe numeral 10, and each bolt has a wedge shaped end 1| adapted to t ina wedge shaped groove 12 formed in a block 13 preferably of hardenedsteel which is set in a recess in a lug 14 at the edge of the disc.There are four lugs and blocks on each disc corresponding to the radialpositions of the leaves. The body of the bolt is provided with ashoulder 16 (see Fig. '7) which engages a shoulder in the bolt receivingrecess and serves to limit the outward movement of the bolt. The rearend of the lbolt is hollow, as shown at 13, and receives a compressionspring 19. 'Ihe inner end of the compression spring bears against ascrew plug 88 which screws in the threaded inner portion of the recessin the hanger and constitutes an adjustable abutment for the spring. Thetension on the spring is so set as to permit the release of the leavesunder a predetermined pressure greater than the normal operatingpressure or any expected wind pressure to which the door leaf issubjected. The panic release pressure is usually determined by ordinancein the cities Where the door may be used. The resistance of the leavesto folding may also be affected by choosing a proper angle for the endsof the bolts and for rthe sockets in which'they t. If the angle is mademore acuta' the resistance .to folding will vbe greater for the samespring pressure and vice versa.

. An important advantage of the present construction is that the boltsare urged outwardly .by the springsso that the spring reaction againstthe hangers and door leaves` mounted thereon is inward. 'Ihe bolts andsprings thus tend to force the leaves, inwardly at all times, and holdthe edges of the leaves closely to` the column. In previousconstructions, in which the bolts or spring pressed devices are mountedoutside of the discs and pressed inwardly against peripheries of thediscs, the springs tend to urge the leaves away from the central column.This-has the result that any looseness in the pivotal connections ofthejleaves results in a sagging of the leaves away from the column whichmay permit leakage ofair and which also may interfere with the properfrictional contact between the weather strips at the edges of theleavesV and the door casing, thus interfering with the proper smoothoperation of the door. As the door continues in use and the pivotalconnections wear, this condition is accentuated. With ourimprovedconstruction, however, slight looseness or wearing of the pivotalconnections is unimportant because the spring bolts keep the leaves inproper position at all times.

Owing to the fact that the inner edges of the door leaves are pressedrrnly into the grooves in the column by the spring pressure, the columnserves to reinforce the leaves and thus thereby secure additionalrigidity, a very rrn and tight structure resulting.

Another advantage of the present construction is that the bolts arelocated near the central column and inside of the outer diameter of thediscs. This produces a construction which is very compact and enablesthe hangers to be reduced` in size to a minimum, thereby improving theappearance of the door and reducing the cost. of construction.

When it is desired to fold the door leaves manually, for the purpose ofcollapsing the door andy moving it to one side of the doorway, as isfrequently done in warm weather, or for the purpose of moving largearticles in and out of the building, it is desirable to provide meansfor unlocking the leaves so that they may be readily folded. In thepresent construction we accomplish this result by providing means forpushing the bolts into retracted or unlocked position against thetension of the springs and without in any way releasing or modifying thespringY tension. In the` construction illustrated, each bolt is providedwith a pin @il projecting from the side thereof and each hanger has alongitudinal push rod 92 mounted to slide radially in a .bore in thehanger. The inner ends of these push rods are adapted to engage the pinsSt while the outer ends of the push rods bear against the surfaces ofeccentrics 94 mounted in the hanger. Each eccentric is mounted on ashaft 55 which is provided with bearing discs 9S and 91 which aremounted to turn in a circular recess in the hanger. The outer end of theshaft 95 is exposed and is provided with a socket 98 or is otherwiseformed for engagement with a suitable key or tool by which the shaft 95and eccentric may be rotated through a half turn. A stop pin lili) isprovided to limit the motion of the eccentric from one extreme positionto the other. Figure 3 shows the eccentric rotated to its outermostposition in which the push rod S2 is moved outwardly away from the doorcolumn, thereby releasing the bolt 'l0 and enabling it to be held rmlyin engagement with its recess in the disc lugby the pressure ofthespring 1S. FigureG shows the eccentric, rotated to its ,opposite posi-Vtion in which the push rod engages the ,pin 9i? andpushes the bolt intoafretracted position, where it isA free from engagement with the notchon the discv so. that the door leaf is free tobe:

swung in either direction.

The bolts` may also-beused. to hold the door leaves in foldedrelationship, as illustrated .in`

FigureQr, y As here shown, thev bolts in the two outerleaves afterhaving been retracted to .per. mit the leaves to be'folded, are releasedby turn.

ing the eccentrics. The bolts will then project over the lugs i4 whichare adjacenttheretoin the foldedv position `ofthe leaves and will exertsufficient pressure against. such lugs to maintain the leaves in theirfolded relationship. The two inner leaves of course will be retained inposition between two outerleaves.

While we have illustrated and described in detail one preferred form of`our invention, it is to be understood that changes may be made thereinand the invention embodied in other structures. We do not, therefore,desire tolimit ourselves to the specic construction illustrated, butintend to cover our invention broadly in whatever form its principle maybe utilized.

We claim:

1. In a revolving door, a central column, a plurality of leavespivotally mounted thereon, and

means for yieldably retaining the said leaves in radial positioncomprising bolts mounted near the inner edges of the leaves andextending outwardly, spring means for urging saidl bolts outwardly, andkeeper means fixed with relation to the column and engaged by saidbolts.

2. In a revolving door, a central column, discs carried thereby, aplurality of ,leaves pivotally mounted on said discs, said discshavinginwardly faoing, notched lugs thereon, said leaves car-v rying outwardlyprojecting .bolts near their inner edges, and spring means` foryieldingly urgingv said bolts outwardly into engagement with the notchedfaces of said lugs.

3. In a revolving door, a central column, a supporting disc thereon,leaves pivotally mounted on said disc, bolts mounted near the inneredges of said leaves and lying within the periphery of said disc, springmeans normally urging said bolts outwardly, and abutments carried bysaid disc adapted to be engaged by said bolts, said boltsr and,abutments constituting means for yieldably locking said leaves inradial position.

4. In a revolving door, a `central column, a leaf supporting memberfixed thereon and provided with keeper means, leaves pivoted on saidsupporting member, outwardly acting locking bolts on said leaves forengaging said keeper means and locking said leaves in spaced radialposition,

springs for yieldably forcing said bolts radially cams mounted in theleaves for operating said push rods.

-. 6. In a revolving door, a supporting column, a disc mounted thereonhaving a lug near its periphery, said lug having a groove in its innerface, and a door leaf pvotally mounted on said ldisc, said door leafhaving a radially extending recess therein, a bolt adapted to move insaid recess and having a projecting wedge shaped face on its outer endadapted to engage in the groove in the lug on the disc, an adjustableplug mounted in the inner end of said recess, and a compression springmounted between said plug and said bolt and acting normally to urge saidbolt outwardly.

v'7. In a revolving door, a supporting column, a disc mounted thereonhaving a lug near its periphery, said lug having a groove in its innerface, and a door leaf pivotally mounted on said disc, said door leafhaving a radially extending recess therein, a bolt adapted to move insaid recess and having a projecting wedge shaped face on its outer endadapted to engage in the groove in the lug on the disc, an adjustableplug mounted in the inner end of said recess, and a compression springmounted between said plug and said bolt and acting normally to urge saidbolt outwardly, a push rod mounted to slide in a recess in the leaf andto engage said bolt, and an eccentric mounted to rotate about an axistransverse to the plane of the leaf and to engage the outer end of saidpush rod so as to cause said push rod to push said bolt into retractingposition, said eccentric having means accessible from the outside of theleaf for rotating the same.

8. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary rcentral support,leaves foldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves tothe support and positively guiding them in their folding movement inopposite directions comprising a disc on the support having an annulargroove common to all leaves, a socket for each leaf, and outwardlyextending cam grooves extending divergently from each socket, andpartially merging at their outer ends to form two adjacent sockets, anda pair of guide elements on each leaf for cooperating, respectively,with the annular groove and with the cam grooves.

9. In a revolving door, a central column, discs carried thereby, leaveshaving bifurcated hangers, the members of which embrace the discs andare pivotally connected therewith, said discs having 'inwardly facedlugs thereon, said hangers carrynotched faces of said lugs, and yieldingwind stops mounted in the outer ends of the disc receiving recesses inthe hangers and adapted to contact with the edges of the discs.

10. In a revolving door, a central column, a pair of discs, one iixednear the top and one near the bottom thereof, a plurality of leavespivotally mounted on said discs, a plurality of inwardly facing keepermeans on each disc corresponding with the radial positions of therespective leaves, and outwardly acting locking means mounted withinsaid leaves engaging said keeper means to hold said leaves in radialposition with respect to said column and draw the inner edges of saidleaves toward said column.

11.7In a revolving door, a central column, discs xed near the top andbottom thereof, tracks in the discs, a plurality of leaves mounted onsaid discs, said leaves having guide elements cooperating with saidtracks to permit movement of said leaves in relation to said column,means for locking said leaves in radial position in relation to saidcolumn, said means including keepers on said discs and outwardly actingspring pressed locking means engaging said keepers, said locking meansnormally urging the inner edges of said leaves in the direction of thecolumn.

12. In a revolving door, a central column, discs fixed thereon, aplurality of leaves pivotally mounted on said discs, said discs havinginwardly facing recessed lugs thereon, hard metal blocks in the recessesin said lugs, said blocks having notches formed on the inner exposedfaces thereof, said leaves carrying outwardly projecting locking meansnear their inner edges and spring means for yieldingly urging saidlocking means outwardly into engagement with said notches.

13. In a revolving door, a central rotary column, leaves mounted thereonand projecting radially therefrom, said column including a centralsupporting member and a casing enclosing the central supporting member,comprising a pair of extruded sections of similar conguration, eachsection of the pair having identical complete ribbed portions, partialribbed portions and inner portions fitting within the complementarypartial ribbed portions, said partial ribbed portions having inwardlyfacing dovetailed grooves, said inner portions having flanges in theouter side thereof, said dovetailed grooves and said anges beingarranged to interlock longitudinally, and recesses between said ribbedportions adapted to receive the inner edges of said leaves.

EDMUND PEREMI. CHARLES KISH.

